When the Runaway Finds a Home
by Queen Keri
Summary: Wherein they are all not in themselves.


_Disclaimer: I don't own... ugh. This line makes me feel depressed_

_OOCness ahead. Yes, you've been warned :)_

* * *

December 23—1:06am

Aomine brought home an unusual object.

Kise was pissed.

Midorima was the first one to react.

Kagami was late.

"So? You're saying that you picked him up… from the street?" Kise stared at Aomine incredulously, eyes darting from his roommate to the young boy he was carrying on his back, both of them slightly covered in snow. "On the freaking side walk?"

Seeing how Aomine was having a hard time keeping up with the weight on his back, Midorima had to put down the book he was reading and helped their captain to safely put the other boy's frail body down. He was unconscious and was freezing cold.

"Yes, Kise." Aomine sneered. "What would I do then? Just let this_ kid_ die out there?"

Midorima frowned. "If we don't want him to get sick, we gotta change his clothes." Then after laying the said boy on Aomine's bed, he ran to the nearest cabinet—Kise's, and grabbed the plainest shirt he could find.

"Hey! Don't just go around my stuff!" Kise yelled and was about to say something else when the door opened again and revealed a very red Kagami—red from the cold. He closed the door and was on the process of taking off his jacket when the scene in front of him met his eyes.

"I saw Aomine on the way and he was kind of carrying this huge stuf—Woah! What did you to him?" He pointed an accusing finger on the unconscious boy.

Kise rolled his eyes. "Correction: It is 'what _Aominechi _did to him'. Not us."

"You made it sound like I kidnapped him! I just helped!" Aomine yelled after he fetched hot water, basin and a towel. He handed them over to Midorima as Kise turned to Kagami, panic etched on his face. "Kagamichi, thank god you're here, you're a nurse. Do something! He's like… ice cold. What should we do?"

Kagami blinked at him and blinked again, probably processing what Aomine had just said. Being the clumsy guy he is, it took him at least ten second to figure out what really was going on. _"Oh. I see."_ Aomine fought the urge to strangle him.

"God, I don't know what is happening but goddamnit Kagami, just do something about! I doubt Aomine will be able to hold himself and keep you alive if you continue gawking in there!"

"Oh! O-okay! Of course! I'm sorry; I'll do something right away!" Midorima then moved, gave Kagami a chair and space beside the bed. He first checked the boy's pulse, his temperature and finally his breathing interval. After a few minutes, he put away his stethoscope and sighed, an image of professionalism lastly showing up. "He has a slight fever but aside from that he's fine. His current body temperature is a result of being exposed to snow for a long time, but now that he's here—it will return to normal eventually. He's lucky."

There was relief on everyone's face when that was heard—well, that's not really surprising since these people are certainly good-natured, even Kise, who'd be unexpectedly nice to their guest in the future.

* * *

December 24—4:06pm

"Oh… so you're finally awake? Aomine would be home any minute now." Midorima, who's currently on school break, said to the boy when he noticed that he was already awake, his bed was just across the room anyway. "Are you hungry?" He asked and walked closer. The boy sat up and looked around before staring at Midorima's face.

"This is…?"

"This is our apartment." He said, smiling. "By the way, Aomine was the one who found you lying in the street last night and had brought you here. What's your name?"

"Huh? Uh… Kuroko. Tetsuya Kuroko." He said to Midorima, removing his blanket and had tried to stand; only to feel his knees growing weak, he almost fell but luckily Midorima was there for support.

"Hey take it easy, you just woke up."

"We're hoooooooooooome~!" They then heard familiar voices; there were three of them who just came in. The next moment, as Midorima was helping Kuroko to stand properly, Kise was already at the doorframe, eyes wide as he stared at Kuroko.

"OMG. AOMINE HE'S AWAKE…" he pointed at them, smile widening "AND HE'S SO CUTE! LOOK AT THOSE CHEEKS! ALRIGHT! I AGREE, JUST LET HIM LIVE WITH US!"

Kagami and Aomine followed—soon enough the four of them were all looking at Kuroko. Five minutes later, they found themselves on the living room, anticipating what the boy was going to say.

"Geez, Kise quit staring at him like you're his mom!" Aomine hissed when he noticed that Kuroko's face was still bowed down.

"Shut up! I don't mind being his mom anyway~"

"Okay, all of you, can you please tone it down. You're scaring the boy." Midorima then patted Kuroko on the shoulder, urging him to talk.

"Uhm… I-I'm Kuroko. I heard from him," he pointed at Midorima timidly, "that you," he then pointed at Aomine, "picked me up on the street last night when I was unconscious." There was a pause. "T-thank you very much."

Kise fought down his squeal. Kagami faked a cough and pushed a pillow on Kise's face. "Well then Kuroko, can you tell us what really had happened?" Being the oldest, he asked this.

"I-I actually," Kuroko stuttered but felt obliged to tell them about himself because these were the people who saved him even though they didn't really know him. "I ran away from home. Uh… not exactly but, I asked my parents to transfer me to another school and let me live by myself… And on the way to my new dorm, I got lost… I haven't eaten since then so I guess I collapsed because of hunger…" he then buried his face on his hands, ears red. "Ugh, this is dead embarrassing. I'm really sorry causing all of you trouble!"

Most people would find his story, indeed, childish but being the simple person he was, Kagami sniffed as he found himself deeply moved by Kuroko's story.

"I-I don't know what to say." He cried. "That's just too sad! I know how it feels to be so hungry that you almost die, Kise always keep my favorite foods away from me so I can relate to what you are saying! Don't worry; if you live in here with us, you'll never be hungry ever again!" He grabbed Kuroko into a suffocating hug.

"Uh Kagami-san, I don't think that's the case in here." Midorima told him and pulled the exaggerating Kagami away from the boy. He signaled Kuroko to continue then.

"My entire family is known for being famous doctors… The Tetsuya Family. And unlike my siblings, I am a little unskilled, not gifted. Even though they were not saying it, I know my parents were always comparing me to them and that they were disappointed in me. I'd rather live on my own than to continue staying on a house that doesn't need me. I ran away."

They all fell quiet until Kise suddenly exclaimed.

"Wait… did you just say Tetsuya?" Kise exclaimed. They all turned to Kagami. "Kagamichi here is has relatives from that family. Don't tell me you guys are related?"

"Well, Kagami's a nurse after all…" Aomine added.

"Kagami?" Kuroko muttered. "Is he Taiga Kagami?" His voice rose.

Aomine nodded.

"Cousin!" Kuroko exclaimed.

"Huh?" Kagami blinked, totally clueless. "Me?"

"My father said that someone is going to pick me up on the train station yesterday, but that person didn't arrive so I tried looking for my apartment alone and got lost. His name was also Kagami." Kuroko explained.

"Uh…" Kagami scratched his head. "I did remember mom saying something like I have a cousin that will be under my care—" He didn't finish his sentence as he stood up with a shocked expression. "CRAP! YESTERDAY! I WAS SUPPOSED TO PICK HIM UP YESTERDAY! WHAT TIME IS IT? MOM'S GOING TO KILL ME!"

"So you're…" Aomine said to Kuroko.

"Yes," was the helpless reply he got.

Out of frustration, Kise smacked Kagami and that silenced the panicking adult.

"THE HELL KAGAMI, SO IT'S YOUR FAULT WHY KUROKO GOT LOST AND ENDED UP COLLAPSING IN THE FIRST PLACE! CHRIST, WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM! IF AOMINE HAVEN'T FOUND HIM, HE COULD HAVE DIED!"

"Kuroko?" Kagami muttered. "You're my cousin?" He turned to the boy. Kuroko nodded sadly. This was a rather unexpected turn of event. And he didn't expect his cousin to be this… strange too. He thought everyone in their family would be like his parents—cold and stern.

"Kagami is usually like this." Midorima said to him. "If you're going to live with him, you better get used to it."

"AOMINECHI GET THE KITCHEN KNIFE, WE HAVE SOME KILLING TO DO!" Kise continued to yell as if he was the one got abandoned in the train station and not Kuroko.

"Calm down!" Aomine yelled as he stopped Kise's murderous intentions. No seriously, he was kind of pissed at Kagami too so why was he even stopping Kise? A good point. But he won't let a kid see that kind of act so he held Kise down. "Don't forget that Kagami's the one paying HALF of our rent!"

"Oh…" Kise then calmed down. "You're right. For the person who pays the rent."

"And that is… Kise." Midorima said to Kuroko as the whole house became filled with commotion. "He is usually like that too." He chuckled and it appeared to be contagious as Kuroko found himself having a genuine smile.

"And I am Midorima, by the way. Sorry for the late introductions." The older boy said to him as they sat on the couch, watching Kise torturing—not killng Kagami at least, with the kitchen knife. Aomine was acting like he wanted to stop Kise but it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that he actually enjoyed watching Kagami suffering too. Kise and he were sadist buddies.

"We're usually like this." Midorima said, casting Kuroko a side way glance. "I personally think that I am the most normal."

"Oh wait… Kuroko, it's your birthday tomorrow right?" Kagami then asked as the silenced kissed everyone in the room. The latter in question nodded, surprised that Kagami knows about that.

"Christmas is the day you were born?'" Kise yelled. He's been yelling a lot today.

"Does this mean that I actually picked up a blessing?" Aomine asked no one in particular, eyes sparkling with hope. Apparently, he wished to have good luck next year and it seemed like Kuroko's the sign he's looking for.

"He's not an object, Aomine." Midorima told him.

"It was a compliment, Midorima. Why are you being so protective over him anyway?"

"If he's going to live with us from now on, then I'd do whatever it takes to keep him normal. And that includes protecting him from the corrupted mind of the adults."

"Hey, don't forget that I am the one who saved him!"

"You could barely carry him actually, who knows how many times he fell when you were trying to carry him in your back. Kuroko's like… _badly wounded_."

A nerve popped. "Yah—!"

"Anyway, we're going to have a party tomorrow! Kagami come with me to the grocery!" Kise then dragged Kagami with him.

"But we just shopped a while ago!" The older boy whined.

"You're a glutton, this food won't be enough, and besides it's Kuroko's birthday! Double Celebration!"

Christmas, Kuroko thinks, was just for people who shared a precious bond with each other. He's not quite clear on the concept of it and his birthday that his family doesn't normally celebrate; these people were preparing it for him. And they've just met. What should he do? He was so happy.

Kuroko just wanted a caring family and that wasn't what he got but in the end, what he got was so much better than what he originally wanted.

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_aww i wasn't able to include akashi and mura-chin :_

_anyhow reviews please :3_


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